Archive for November, 2013

The famous Koutoubia Mosque dominates the skyline of Marrakech. Koutoubia Mosque is 77 meters high, including it’s majestic minaret, and was built in 1158 by the Almohad Caliph Abd al-Mu’min (1094–1163) then completed by his grandson the Almoravid Sultan Yacoub El Mansour in 1195. Caliph Abd al-Mu’min also built the Giralda Tower in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat which was never completed. The towering square Koutoubia minaret in Marrakech is all the more striking because the limestone walls remain undecorated by modern restorers.

At the time the area around Koutoubia was the centre of the old city and the Almohads had built a palace there which was later destroyed but you can still see the foundations. The courtyard of the mosque in Marrakech originally housed booksellers and scribes who could write documents, hence the Arabic name kutubiyyin gave its name to the Koutoubia or book seller’s mosque.

The call to prayer rings out from the Koutoubia minaret and is echoed by all the mosques in Marrakech which is a wonderful sound particularly in the early morning. The Malakite rite in Morocco permits the call to prayer to be sung and depending on the muezzin who conducts the call to prayer, it can be very beautiful. Moroccans, as with all muslims, pray five times a day and their religion rules their daily lives. Whilst a non believer cannot enter the mosque, the exterior view of Koutoubia both from a distance (it can be seen from 29 kms) and close up is a stunning sight and is Marrakech’s icon. It is floodlit at night.

The minaret of the Kasbah mosque known as the El Mansouria, is in the old fortified city close to the Bab Agnaou adjacent to the Saadian tombs. The minaret of the Kasbah Mosque resembles Koutoubia. Built in 1190 by Sultan Yacoub El Mansour it was restored in the 16th Century. The minaret is decorated with green and white zellij tiles.

The Mouassine mosque on Rue Mouassine is just up from the Dar El Bacha Palace. It is a large and imposing building with a hammam , a medersa and a large fountain in a square to the left of the mosque. It was built by the Saadian Sultan Abdullah el Ghalib in 1560.The Bab Doukala mosque was also built by the Saadians in 1557 who built also built several other mosques including the Barrima mosque, the Zaouia of Sidi Bel Abbes, the Zaouia of Sidi Ben Slimane al-Jazouli, Zaouia of Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, and the Sidi Moulay el Ksour mosque.

Ben Youssef Medersa, Marrakech

The Ben Youssef Mosque is on the main square close to the Marrakech Museum and the Medersa Ben Youssef was originally built by the Almoravid ruler Youssef Bin Tachfine in 1070 and his son Ali Ben Youssef built the largest mosque in the city on the site to be the center of the new city after the conquest by the Almohads . It was built between 1121 and 1132 and was said to have cost a fortune to build with a huge fountain in the central courtyard. It was refurbished by the Saadian Sultan Abdallah al Ghalib and the Saadians also built the magnificent Medersa Ben Youssef between 1563-1564, which tourists can enter . You can also see the Koubba Ba’adiyn with its superb carvings in its dome which was part of the orginal mosque. It is in the park facing the mosque and you can buy a ticket for it in the Medersa Ben Youssef.

The Ben Youssef Mosque underwent a further architectural transformation in the 19th Century by the Alaouite Sultan Suleiman who restored the mosque which had fallen into ruin in the 17th and 18th Centuries but all traces of the Almohad and Almoravid interiors were lost. Mosques in Marrakech have undergone a continuous process of recreation along with the Medina. The situation only stabilised during the French Protectorate and subsequent post independence restoration efforts.

Today the Ben Youssef Mosque dominates the square with its imposing walls and if you are lucky you may be able to see inside through its large door. In the alleyways of the Medina you can glance through open door ways and sometimes catch a glimpse of the interiors, many are plain white with arches .Sometimes there is raffia matting around the walls and carpets laid on the floor. On Fridays it is worth watching the prayers and sermons of the imam on the 2M TV channel in Morocco’s finest mosques to see some of the interiors.

The Ben Saleh Mosque is in a square at the end of Derb Dabachi. It is remarkable as being the sole example of Merinid architecture in Marrakech .It is currently been refurbished. Behind the mosque is the Medersa Ben Saleh which was built n 1671 by Sultan Moulay Rachid and has been completely restored having been a ruin for many years.

There are hundreds of mosques in Marrakech both ancient and modern and new mosques continue to be built many with the financial support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Travel Exploration specializes inMorocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or + 1 (212) 618882681 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Morocco has an exceptional history of cuisine with long standing reputation and allure for the Western traveler. Being at the crossroads of many civilizations Morocco is a mélange of Arab, Berber, Moorish, French, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean African, Iberian, and Jewish influences. Keeping up to date with new travel trends, Travel Exploration has launched a Culinary Trip to Morocco for food enthusiasts. Morocco is a key destination for foodies, adventure travelers and those who wish to explore an untouched country that is full of culinary surprise and old world culture.

Travel Exploration’s first Culinary Trip is scheduled for May 2014 and will enable travelers to experience a cultural tour whiling eating there way through Morocco’s ancient medinas, taking two of the country’s top Morocco cooking workshops and to saunter the old medina of Imperial Fez on an unforgettable Fez Food Tour. Travel Exploration’s Culinary Trip to Morocco offers a chance to discover traditional dishes in the Imperial Cities such as bastilla and couscous, bake bread bread with the Berbers in Southern Morocco and exotic eats in Marrakch’s Djemaa El Fna Square. Travel Exploration’s first Culinary adventure to Morocco will take place over the course of 11 Days.

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or + 1 (212) 618882681 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Morocco ‘s 4th Imperial City of Meknes is often left off tourist itineraries. Meknes is a UNESCO World heritage site and has massive imposing ramparts, 25 kms long, built by Sultan Moulay Ismail, of the Alaouite dynasty, who ruled Morocco from 1672-1727. He chose Meknes as his capital because of the resistance and intrigue he encountered in Fes and Marrakech. He successfully defeated warring tribes and religious brotherhoods in the south uniting the country and repelling European invaders in the north, liberating Tangiers from British rule. The Sultan Moulay Ismaeil also withstood the Ottoman invaders who took Tunisia and Algeria.

Having won many battles and ensuring the unity of what became the modern Moroccan state, he returned to build Meknes as his capital over a period of 55 years. Moulay Ismail was not one to do things by half measures. The old town of Meknes had been the capital of a Berber tribe which had come from Tunisia, the Mekanassa. Alongside this old medina town the Sultan built his imperial city which provided accommodation for his wives and some 500 concubines and 800 children with 24 royal palaces, mosques, barracks and ornamental gardens, surrounded by four sets of massive defensive walls .

The Sultan also installed his army of black soldiers, the Abids or Black Guard, which grew to a force of more than 25,000 in number during his reign in Meknes. He used this slave army to impose a centralized state instead of using unreliable Moroccan tribes to enforce his rule as other sultans had done before him. He created a huge complex, which you can still see, for storage facilities and stabling for thousands of horses at the Heri el Souani granary. He used 50,000 Berber and European slaves to build the imperial city. He plundered the roman remains of Volubilis and completely removed the interior of the Badi Palace in Marrakech to build his imperial city.

Despite his iron control during his reign he failed to ensure the succession. Shortly after his death his sons dismantled most of what he had built within the walls and removed the materials to other locations following a pattern repeated in Moroccan history up until the French Protectorate and conservation efforts following Morocco’s independence in 1956.

Dar Jamai Museum, Meknes

Meknes has some remarkable entrance gates or babs, the best known and most ornate is the Bab Mansour, embellished with zellij tiles and Islamic script engraven on stucco. It is at Place el Helim which separates the Medina from the Imperial city and the nearby Bab Jema en Nouar ,both designed by Moulay Ismail’s court architect, a Christian renegade known as Mansour el Aleuj. The Dar Jamai Museum overlooks the Place el Helim and is a former palace built in 1882 for the Jamai family, two of whom were viziers to the sultan. Since 1920 it became one of Morocco’s best museums displaying the work of urban craftsmen and traditional Berber tribal artifacts. Its exhibits include ceramics, antique Fes and Meknes pottery, Berber jewelry, rugs, kelims, antique carpets, embroidery and woodwork. You can also enjoy the greenery and fountains of the museum’s Andalusian garden . Upstairs the vizier’s salon is arranged as a typical 19th century palace reception room with period decorations and furniture.

Opposite the Grand Mosque is the Medersa Bou Inania, a Merinid Medersa ( Islamic college) built in 1358 by Bou Inania ,who also built the renowned Medersa of the same name in Fes which is much larger. The medersa has fine zellij tiles, delicate stucco relief work and a carved olive wood ceiling. You can climb up to the roof for a fine view of the green tiled Grand Mosque and its minaret. The medersa itself is closed to non muslims.

In the Imperial City the tomb of its founder Sultan Moulay Ismail remains and is open to non muslims. It has courtyards which lead to the tomb hall which is finely decorated with zellij tiles and crafted stucco decorations. You can view the tomb but should not advance in to the chamber which is visited by pilgrims.

Moulay Ismail’s parade ground, the mechaouar, for reviewing his troops, is now called the Place Lalla Aouda and lies to the south of the Bab Mansour . The Koubbba al Sufara further on, is where the sultan received ambassadors and stairs lead down to a large crypt with dark rooms which are said to be dungeons but were apparently for storage.

The medina is smaller than that of Fes or Marrakech but nevertheless has good souks for jewelry, textiles, carpets and kelims. For accommodation you can choose riads in the medina including Riad Yacout or Riad D’Or and the Ville Nouvelle has a number of hotels including the Ibis and the Transatlantique. If you fancy a drink there is Le Pub and there are a number of restaurants in the medina including Dar Sultana and Restaurant Zitouna and in the Ville Nouvelle, such as Chez Phillipe and the Bistrot Art &amp; Wine Bar. Meknes is a good place to stay whilst visiting the nearby Roman ruins of Volubilis with its famous mosaics and the religious pilgrimage town of Moulay Idris.

As well as being famous for its ramparts Meknes and the region is also a major agricultural centre and is home to the famous vineyards of Celliers de Meknes at Chateau Roslane which produces many fine Moroccan wines. Ask your travel agent to arrange a visit.

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or + 1 (212) 618882681 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Two older well known films featuring Morocco are Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much which features James Stewart and Doris Day and was made in 1956. It has all the tense drama of a Hitchcock thriller and has a scene on the Jemma El Fna square where Hitchcock makes a cameo appearance looking at acrobats on the Place in a cafe as a man is stabbed nearby. The French built fortress like police station on the square features prominently in the film. It was made in the same year as Morocco gained independence and captures some of the excitement of the period.

The film Casablanca in 1942 starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid and features Claude Rains as the French police officer, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. All the scenes were shot in a Hollywood studio but the Moroccan street scenes are not too bad and the romantic drama won 3 Academy awards. The hero Humphrey Bogart has to choose between the woman he loves played by Ingrid Bergman and helping her husband in the Czech resistance escape the pro Hitler Vichy forces in Morocco. The picture accurately portrays the war time drama and the plight of refugees in Morocco during the Second World War and was rushed out to coincide with the Allied landings during operation Torch in North Africa in 1942. It is one of the great romantic films with some of the greatest cinema actors of all time. Casablanca still basks in the glory and today’s Rick’s Bar is well worth a visit, you can watch the film as well.

Morocco, Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich & Adolphe-Menjou

Josef Von Sternberg’s production of Morocco in 1930 with Marlene Dietrich and a very young Gary Cooper who is serving in the French Foreign Legion. The film opens with a legionnaire column marching into Mogador . The column stops in the souk and waits as the call to prayer rings out and the people pray, the scenes are very well observed. The shots of life as a legionnaire give an idea of what the period under the French Protectorate was like. This is the film where the young Marelene Dietrich caused a sensation by singing in the local nightclub in top hat and tails and kissing a woman who gave her a white rose after her performance. Both the heroine and hero have a troubled past and a are trying to found a new life in Morocco. It again explores the theme of Morocco as a land of eastern mystery where the characters can find themselves. In the end she follows the legionnaire column into the desert to be with her true love despite the wealth and security offered by another suitor.

The film Hideous Kinky came out in 1998 starring Kate Winslet and Said Taghamoui. In 1972 Jane’s two daughters Bea and Lucy move to Marrakech to escape the boring routines of London. The film captures the hippy period in Morocco. Both Kate Winslet ‘s character and her two daughter’s also go through a voyage of discovery aided by Said Taghamouti’s character who helps them to return to London.

Paul Bowles

The American novelist Paul Bowles narrates Bernado Bertolucci’s version of his great novel The Sheltering Sky starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich and Campbell Scott. As often happens the novelist did not like the film, the novel was perhaps too stark for a Hollywood extravaganza. There are great desert scenes and Paul Bowles appears in a cameo part as well as narrating the film. He spent 52 years living in Tangier writing and thinking about Morocco during his own personal journey of discovery. He was the best known American expatriate in Morocco of the period and introduced many writers of the period to the country.

If you search on Youtube you will find films of old Morocco in 1920,1930,and 1950’s and vivid street scenes and it is thrilling to see places as they were then and are now in modern Morocco. You can also find historic pictures of Mohammed V, Churchill and De Gaulle reviewing French troops in Marrakech during World War II as well as the historic Casablanca conference with President Roosevelt.

Morocco is a very photogenic country because of its string scenery and great films such as David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, Orson Welles’s Othello shot in Essaouira, Martin Scorsese’s, Kundun and also the Temptation of Christ. Many international films continue to be made in Morocco and Morocco has its own burgeoning film industry and film stars.

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or + 1 (212) 618882681 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.

Marrakech, often referred to as the Paris of Morocco and the premier Moroccan city of night lights and romance has something of a reputation for its nightlife. Marrakech has a reputation for seedy bars and expensive discos in high end hotels with groovy, Ibiza-style discos and belly-dancing along with top end dining experiences that can be had on rooftop terraces.The best places for nightlife in Marrakech are in the wealthy Hivernage district’s 5 star hotels, Sofitel So Lounge, Hivernage Hotel and the Comptoir Darna Cocktail Bar. Low lighting, scented candles, and Moroccan lamps are strategically placed in the ground-floor restaurant of Comptoir. Diners can choose from low-lying tables under the Berber tent, or inside the charcoal and ocher restaurant proper. There is a small garden where you can lounge on the lime, orange, and red cushions and heavy Berber carpets. A wide, central staircase leads up to the real reason to come here: the harem like bar decked out in charcoal, orange, and burgundy veils where resident and guest DJ’s spin the latest in Euro-Arabian dance music with exotic dancers.

One of the hottest places in Marrakech is Theatro, inside the Marrakech Casino at the Hotel es Saadi on avenue Quadissia, Hivernage. Converted from an old theater and with the original stage still intact, this place, at times, rivals Europe with its unabashed on-stage hedonism. At other times, it’s simply a high-end techno dance club.

Out past the Hivernage in the new Aguedal area is Pacha Marrakech. The Pacha complex is on boulevard Mohammed VI,which is large and with loud music to match. This kasbah-style club is an outpost of the clubbing giant Pacha in Ibiza, pumps out 50,000 watts of DJ-mixed pulsating music. It boasts two formal restaurants and a huge swimming pool with a cave like nightclub, with its large open spaces decked out with exotic rugs, high ceiling, and low-lying sitting areas. Regular nightclubers will be at home on the tented dance floor which often looks like a giant circus ring complete with shirtless Europeans, while those hankering for more lounge than reverberating music will gravitate to the separate chill-out lounge. On a Saturday night european and international DJ’s are flown in.

Farther out, on the Ourika road, is Bô & Zin which has French Thai cuisine, served within the various rooms inside. It’s good for a late-night party, with both a resident DJ and guest musicians out in the garden. During summer it’s usually packed with trendy people and a place to have fun where Europeans and locals mix.

Churchill Bar La Mamounia

All the big hotels in Marrakech also have bars. One of the most glamorous in the city is undoubtedly Le Bar Churchill, at La Mamounia Hotel, which has a sumptuous Moorish and art deco interior and a strict dress code. It is named after the hotel’s most famous guest and is the perfect place for an aperitif in jazzy 1930s style.

There few places in the Marrakech Medina for quality Nightlife as bars are not encouraged to be opened there for religious reasons. An exception is next to the Mellah is the Asian-chic Kosybar, Place des Ferblantiers (lamps) which is very popular. Kosybar is a former riad that offers something different on each of its three floors. The small ground-floor bar, decorated with a zebra-skin hide, is a great spot for an evening of drinking and dancing. The second level combines shades of ocher and olive with heavy, dark-wood furniture and the original zellij flooring. On the terrace you’ll be rewarded with a superb view of the medina, the top of the El Badi Palace, and the resident flock of storks who nest and fly by at eye level. The terrace of Kosybar has comfy lounges and is a great place to chill out with a cold beer or a bottle of wine. Kosybar is open daily from noon to midnight.

Kosy Bar Marrakech

Also on place des Ferblantiers is Le Tanjia which has a small and popular ground floor bar. Tucked away in a corner you’ll encounter the in-house band, belting out mainly Moroccan and European music. The restaurant upstairs (one floor indoors plus the roof terrace) offers very good fare, mostly Moroccan, and most nights your meal is accompanied by a belly dancer or two. It’s open from noon to midnight.

The Piano Bar, within the mammoth Hotel les Jardins de la Koutoubia, 26 rue Koutoubia is very low-key and rarely busy in the evening. A convenient place for a quick drink just off the Djemma El Fna.

Le Salama on rue des Banques in the Medina attracts a lively crowd of diners, drinkers and dancers. Housed in a period colonial building, this sumptuous club offers Moroccan lanterns, dark floors, mirrored walls, ornamental woodwork and views of the Atlas Mountains.

The Guéliz, the modern part of town, has a number of bars and restaurants and pavement cafés. The old slightly rough Moroccan men only bars are usually hidden away and have screens in the doorway and are not meant for tourists or Europeans. They only sell heineken or local beer.

The Diamant Noir night club is on the Place de la Liberte mixes western pop and Moroccan hits and has an easy-going party atmosphere and a dance floor.

African Chic hosts live music nightly at rue Oum Errabia, El Hara, Marrakech. It offers two huge bars, a great cocktail menu and an explosive atmosphere.

In Guéliz, the restaurants like the Grand Café de la Poste, Kechmara, and Café du Livre are great places to enjoy a drink. Kechmara has live music sessions with a DJ on Wednesdays,Thursdays and Fridays and Café du Livre is a great place of young Moroccans and expats to meet and a very congenial place for tourists to meet locals.

The compact Le Lounge, next to the Diwane Hotel, 24 rue Yougoslavie is Daniel Guillard and Christian Hofer’s affordable, unpretentious lounge bar that nightly attracts a loyal set of locals as well as a few tourists. The staff members are young and friendly. Drinks are served either in the downstairs lounge or the smoky upstairs mezzanine. The interior is sleek and modern, with black and red throughout. The music is largely dance, house, or funk, and widescreen TVs show the latest music videos. There’s a reasonable menu, including tapas.

The Brasserie at the Renaissance Hotel is one of the few restaurants that is open day and night with tables and seating inside around the bar and outside in a screened off area with big television screen for football matches. On the top floor of the Renaissance Hotel is the terrace bar Le Mirador with superb views of Marrakech at night and the Dahab night club with a DJ Jazz and blues.

One must also not forget the ultimate in live music, the nightly concert on Jemaa el Fna. This is the ultimate in live Moroccan music and traditional Gnaoua.

Travel Exploration specializes in Morocco Travel. We provide Tours and travel opportunities to Morocco for the independent traveler and tailor-made tours for families and groups with a distinctly unique flavor. From Morocco’s Seven Imperial Cities, to the Magical Sahara Travel Exploration offers a captivating experience that will inspire you. At Travel Exploration we guarantee that you will discover the best of Morocco! Call Travel Exploration at 1 (800) 787-8806 or + 1 (212) 618882681 and let’s book a tour to Morocco for you today.